So Far Fallen
by Lynsey Schadegg
Summary: Why didn’t he feel…vindicated? Why didn’t he feel…satisfied? Sephiroth/Vallewida. Complete.


Pairings: Sephiroth/Vallewida

Rating: NC-17

Warnings: Yaoi

Disclaimer: I do not own FFVII/Enzai or their characters. I do not make any money from this fiction.

Summary: Why didn't he feel…vindicated? Why didn't he feel…satisfied?

A/N: An excuse for pretty bishie porn. That's all this is. With a little…ok _a lot_ of plot thrown in because I can't help myself.

**************************

Sephiroth shuffled the papers in his hands, reading and re-reading until he thought his head would spin.

"You've checked all these."

The blond man across from him nodded vigorously. "Over and over. Everything we need to bring that bastard down is in your hands. We've been looking for this kind of evidence for years…I almost can't believe we finally found it."

Sephiroth put the papers down and clasped his hands on top of them. He stared hard at the desk for some moments before regarding the other man. "This means a large portion of my army is corrupt. More than we originally thought."

The other man looked nervous for a moment before nodding. "I-I'm sorry, sir. But…the evidence doesn't lie. I've taken the liberty to create a case file. It's awaiting your attention on the protected network drive. All you need to do is submit it."

Sephiroth leaned back in his chair and released a sigh full of exasperation and repressed anger. "I'm going to launch a full scale cleansing of that sector. I knew I shouldn't have left that filthy, money-grubbing whore as long as I did. I wish I could have found grounds to dismiss him before now." The warrior turned thoughtful. "Who was it you said discovered this, Lusca?"

The lawyer smiled almost slyly and rubbed the back of his head. "A boy by the name of Guys. He was falsely accused of murder by Inspector Guildias to cover the death of the detective previously following the case. Guildias killed himself after his corruption was exposed."

"How did Guys find all this evidence?"

"His friends, others who were also falsely imprisoned. Some of the most important information came from a trooper who was imprisoned on false charges after he tried to escape with evidence of Bollanet's embezzling."

Sephiroth was quiet, his face serious. "This trooper…what was his name?"

"Vallewida."

The silver haired man shook his head. "Never heard of him, but…I'm not surprised if they did this cover-up was well as I think they did."

Lusca nodded in understanding. "It goes really deep. Bollanet covered all of his bases. If he hadn't kept those boys alive as his living, breathing play-toys none of this would have came to light."

Sephiroth looked suspicious and morbidly curious. "I'm sorry?"

The blond sighed and reluctantly picked up his suitcase. He raised his eyes to Sephiroth. "I…have the feeling that you are going to like this less than anything else I've shown you so far." He snapped open the suitcase, pulled out a file, and handed it over.

Sephiroth kept his gaze leveled on the lawyer as he accepted the thick stack and flipped it open. His eyes flicked downward and widened. He picked up the photo and immediately discarded it for another. And another. And another.

"These photos show only a small taste of the horrors that those boys suffer in that prison."

"Cruel and unusual doesn't even begin…" Sephiroth trailed off, stopping at a particular photo. In it, a young, silver haired man had his back to the camera. His curtain of dirty, blood-stained hair was pulled over his shoulder to expose the horrible whip lashes that crisscrossed pale flesh and broke skin to expose the pink, bloody flesh underneath. Whoever wielded the whip had done so with anger and aggression, clearly intending to do as much damage as possible. Stamped in clear, clinical text at the bottom was 'Vallewida' and a date.

Lusca looked at the photo Sephiroth dwelled on. "I took that picture during one of my interviews with him."

"Did he say why…" he gestured with futile anger at the picture.

"He said," Lusca's face turned dark and he sighed deeply. "The boy lost a lot of his memories after a rather…traumatic event. The charge guard seemed to think that beating and raping him would help jog his memories."

"Traumatic event?"

"After he was caught stealing some rather incriminating evidence by Bollanet's henchmen, he was…Gods I don't even want to say it." Lusca rubbed at his face. "The unit Vallewida was assigned to was under Bollanet's purview. That bastard gave them orders to…make him sorry. I don't know how many times he was raped, or how badly he was beaten, but he lost most of his memories of that time. Over time, he's slowly recalled some of what was forgotten, but I don't know that he'll ever regain everything. I don't know that I want him to. He only vaguely remembers what happened at the hands of his former-comrades, and I figure…it's for the best. It's enough that he has to remember everything he's lived through at the prison."

Sephiroth was silent as he sifted through more pictures of the unfortunate young man. Those sorrowful, pain-filled pale eyes stared at him from the glossy paper. Picture after picture flipped through his hands of wounds, both from beatings and some that were obviously from rape. "How long have you been collecting these?" the General asked in cold fury as the dates on the pictures got older and older.

"Years."

"How long has he been in there?"

"Maybe…four years? He was imprisoned when he was thirteen and he's…around seventeen now."

"So young," Sephiroth murmured in a regretful voice. "This is why I stand behind my proposal to raise the age of admission from thirteen to sixteen. He was much too young to be put in this position." The warrior neatly ordered the pictures and slipped them back into the file. "I want all of those boys put in safe houses until their sentences have been reversed. After that…they will get whatever they need to heal and find peace."

"Yes, sir. I'll get all the appropriate papers filed immediately. They should be free by tonight at the latest." Lusca stood and nodded at the General before swiftly turning on his heel and leaving the office, brief case in tow.

This _abomination_ was something Sephiroth had suspected but had no evidence of for years. He'd never liked dealing with the fat, pompous Bollanet, but the idiot had tenure granted by the previous General. Without something terribly incriminating, Sephiroth's hands were tied. He'd heard rumors of the atrocious things occurring in that prison, but every time the place was inspected there hadn't been a shred of evidence.

And the boys imprisoned there had never said a word.

The warrior supposed they had probably been coached by their keepers before the inspections to keep their mouths shut, or suffer the consequences of 'tattling'.

Sephiroth had given up years ago trying to find anything in that repugnant concrete hell to shut it down. He'd had other urgent matters, like a _war_, to deal with. It hadn't been until recently that he'd been able to redirect his attentions to establishing order in his army, and it seemed that in the time he'd been distracted, Bollanet and his lackeys had gotten sloppy.

The General smiled a very wicked smile. Sloppy enough to let Lusca worm his way in and find that boy, find the evidence, and take those incriminating pictures. Lusca had always been a sharp one, and he was one of the few lawyers Sephiroth could talk to without wanting to beat him to a pulp. He didn't talk in circles or lie by omission. He was to the point, truthful, and knew better than try to cross the General.

Sephiroth liked his subordinates very much aware of how easy it was for him to sense a lie.

Sephiroth stared at the wall of his office for a long time, organizing his thoughts and his plan of action. Once everything fell into place in the ordered spaces of his mind, he pulled up the correct databases and networking lines on his computer. All the evidence Lusca had submitted to him was already formed into a formal case against the bastard Bollanet, and all it took was a few clicks to submit the file. Sephiroth then picked up his phone to call up the SOLDIER MP's he trusted for just about everything and sent them on their way to collect the under-plate scum that he wished he could have gotten rid of years ago.

At least now he had a good reason.

All the bases covered for now, Sephiroth tapped his fingers on the desk impatiently. The correct asshole was in custody, the boys falsely accused and horribly maltreated would be out of their horrible nightmare by this evening, and soon all the corrupt individuals responsible for this debacle would be court-martialed and behind bars.

Why didn't he feel…vindicated?

Why didn't he feel…satisfied?

The vision of pale eyes, filled with pain and terror floated through his mind.

He picked up the phone and called Zack.

"What's up?" came the flippant voice at the other end. The crack of billiard balls colliding rumbled through the phone.

"Shouldn't you be working?"

"Probably?" the other man hardly sounded repentant.

"You're working now. Get your ass over here and requisition a vehicle while you're at it."

"We goin' on a field trip, boss?" Zack asked, and Sephiroth distinctly heard the sound of pool balls being racked.

"Get your ass out of the bar and over to HQ _now_ SOLDIER."

A break splintered the air and crackled the receiver. "Just as soon as I win this game, boss. I got a lot of gil ridin' on it."

"I'll double whatever it is if you get here in under ten minutes."

"'Kay," Zack drawled and hung up the phone.

Zack pulled up to his waiting superior in one of the standard issue jeeps in seven minutes and forty-eight seconds. Sephiroth pushed off the cement wall of the parking garage and approached the vehicle. The door opened with a squeaking crunch and shut with a solid thunk. Zack didn't even look over, only held out his hand and wiggled his fingers. "Two g's, boss."

Sephiroth sighed and reached into his coat to pull the check book he'd brought for this exact reason.

Zack never forgot a promise when it involved money.

The scratch of a pen and rip of paper heralded the silver haired man slapping the check into Zack's hand.

The brunette stuffed the piece of paper into a pocket of his fatigues and pushed in the clutch before throwing the jeep into gear. "Where to, boss?"

"Enzai."

Zack took the jeep out of gear and put on the break. "I'm sorry, but what the fuck? That slum prison? That place is a dump full of murders and-"

"I'm having the place cleared out. We're going to supervise."

"…alright. Fine."

The drive should have taken at least two hours with how terrible traffic was. That would leave them arriving almost an hour and a half after the clean-up crew Sephiroth had ordered. However, Sephiroth had chosen Zack for a reason.

He drove more recklessly than a Midgar taxi driver.

True to form, they arrived in twenty minutes, just as the rest of the military vehicles pulled up. Sephiroth swung out of the jeep and immediately spotted the MP in charge. Zack trotted along beside, body tense with the need to _do something_ after the briefing Sephiroth had given him in the car on the way here. Sephiroth almost expected the other man to break into a series of squats to release his nervous tension, but he never did.

Sephiroth supposed Zack was waiting to release his built up wrath on some of the human monsters within the prison.

The warrior idly thought the men inside should be shitting themselves in fear.

There wasn't going to be much left of them by the time they were done.

The officer in charge of the mission nodded at the General in respect and started barking orders to his teams.

Sephiroth watched with a detached calm as groups of SOLDIER MPs formed up and entered the prison, immediately taking over every guard and replacing them with one of their own. The guards would be questioned and, depending on their involvement in the scandals, be put to trial. Sephiroth followed behind like some kind of malicious, silver shadow as the teams swept through the facility. It was easy work, all-in-all. The guards here were lazy, slow, and content. They didn't put up much of a fight, and Sephiroth sneered in disgust as most of them begged to be released.

He wondered how many of the boys here begged for reprieve and never received it.

Gaia, how he wished he could have cleaned out this place sooner.

Zack followed at Sephiroth's side, observing everything with a look of passing boredom. However, Sephiroth had known the other SOLDIER long enough that he knew the sparkle of fury in those mako-violet eyes. The thought to cast Zack as an interrogator for this particular case crossed his mind, and Sephiroth decided he'd ask the man about it later. Something told him Zack would accept, especially when they found one of the guards in the middle of beating a small, obviously unwell boy in one of the offices.

Zack's disinterested face had impressively held true as he pulled the man off of the boy and shook him like a terrier with a rat.

"Somehow, I don't think this is a regulation punishment for an unruly prisoner," Zack's slow drawl cut through the air like thick, dark molasses.

The blond guard, wearing the insignia of a high-ranking warden, gulped and closed his eyes. The obvious tent in his unbuttoned pants was starting to deflate in the face of his obvious transgression.

In front of the General and his Second, no less.

"I…it…the boy he…was…"

"Your name?" Sephiroth rumbled from his place in the shadows.

"Durer, s-s-sir."

"Hey kid," Zack asked, voice still slow and dangerous for all its country twang. "What'd ya do to end up a punchin' bag?"

The boy was shivering and hiccupping in the arms of the medic that was trailing their team. He couldn't even talk, he was so terrified.

"Shhh," the medic soothed, just holding the boy and not even trying to touch his wounds for the moment. "Take a few deep breaths. That's it."

The boy breathed slowly and deeply under the coaxing of the medic, finally getting himself under enough control to talk to the big, imposing SOLDIERs that looked no less scary in his eyes than the guard who had been beating him. Sephiroth was remotely glad he had ordered female medics to accompany them. He had a feeling that the boys here wouldn't trust older, larger men for a long, long time.

"What's 'ur name, kid?" Zack asked, dropping the guard and letting the MP's cuff him.

"Io," the boy whispered, cuddling into the woman and shivering.

"Why was he hurting you?"

"I," his voice waivered badly and he hiccupped another sob before continuing. "I wasn't good enough. I couldn't get him hard. I was too scared. So…he said that…that…he'd have to…do something else to…"

"It's alright. That's all I needed to know." Zack walked up to the man who stood trembling in the hold of one of the MPs. "You like rapin' little kids, fucker?"

Durer shook his head, trying to deny the accusation. "No! The little shit's lying!"

Io, maybe pushed beyond sanity or simply terrified into courageousness, stood up and screamed, "No! I'm not lying! He's always hurting us. _Always_. He hurts everyone! He rapes us and whips us and he…he…he…," he broke into sobs again before collapsing into the arms of the medic. "I don't even know what I did wrong," the boy cried. "I don't even know what I did."

The woman looked at the SOLDIERs present in an obvious plea to let her _do_ _something_.

Sephiroth nodded at the woman's pleading gaze. Sighing with relief, she pulled a syringe out of her many-pocketed pants and stabbed it into the boy's bare, dirty arm. Almost immediately, the tranquilizers did their job and the boy fell into a deep sleep.

Zack's hand struck out, a smart, back-handed blow knocking the blond guard's head to the side. The warden gasped in pain and spit blood and teeth to the floor while he sagged in the MP's grip. Zack took a hold of the man's face and wrenched it around to meet his eyes. "You know what I'm gonna do? Huh?" Zack asked, nearly making _Sephiroth_ shiver with the pure malice in his voice. "I'm gonna make you wish I killed you just now. I'm gonna give you a visit in the brig, and I'm gonna bring some friends. We're gonna have a right party, ya?" Zack smiled and stepped back a little before spitting in the man's face. "Get him out of here."

The MP nodded and pulled the terrified man away. Sephiroth stepped out of the shadows and put a hand on Zack's shoulder, which was heaving in time with the heavy breaths Zack was taking.

"Are you really going to do that?" Sephiroth asked as Zack calmed himself.

Zack shook his head. "Na. Never would." He smiled maliciously. "But _he_ doesn't know that. He'll piss himself every time he hears a footfall from now on. He'll probably never sleep again."

Sephiroth chuckled darkly.

"General, sir," one of the MP's stood at attention in the doorway. "We've begun opening the cell blocks. Would you like to supervise?"

Sephiroth nodded and followed the man down into the bowels of Enzai, Zack at his side.

Like most prisons, there was only one entrance to the cell blocks. Sephiroth watched as boys were brought out, one at a time, looking bewildered and frightened. Some of them showed signs of recent violence and petrified timidity, while others had the look of snide ruffians. The latter, Sephiroth flagged for transport to a nearby, mediocre youth detention center. It was still prison, as far as prisons went, but it was geared toward reform with mixed success. Sephiroth idly wondered how this entire place became full of youngsters. They should have gone to youth detention facilities in the first place. It was obvious that the larger, burlier youths had used their stature and strength to stay ahead of the game. Few of them showed signs of injury or illness and they looked remotely well fed. Probably bullying those smaller and weaker out of their food.

Sephiroth couldn't help but notice it was the pretty ones, the small, delicate ones, that had suffered the most.

Each inmate, one by one, was brought in front of the general for processing. Their crimes were looked over, as well as their physical state, and a decision was made on their immediate future. Anything beyond the next few days would need to wait until after the trails to take place.

And then…

"Prisoner number 708. Vallewida."

Sephiroth looked up from the makeshift desk that held the small laptop he was using to keep track of the proceedings.

Oh, Gaia, that boy…a lost angel of the Goddess, surely.

He was dirty and dressed in threadbare, ragged clothes as were all the other inmates. Sephiroth could smell unwashed wounds, sickness and semen on the silver haired teen that stood in front with his head down in timorous acquiescence. The metal cuffs shackling his wrists seemed over-large and cruel on those small arms. One of the guards held a bag filled with the boy's meager possessions, just as all the boys who came before him.

"Vallewida," Sephiroth addressed the prisoner, his voice rolling the name on his lips like a thick chocolate candy.

The boy glanced up for a moment before blushing and looking back down at his feet. He fidgeted a little, from fear or something else Sephiroth didn't know, making the chain holding his wrists together chime softly and damningly.

Vallewida wasn't free yet.

"You are a former trooper, correct?"

"Y-yes, sir. General, sir," the silver angel whispered.

"You were instrumental in solving this case. I'd like to hear more about your part in this. Would you acquiesce to a meeting between us, as soon as I have finished here?"

Pretty silver eyes lifted to regard Sephiroth with trepidation and distrust. "O-of course, General, sir."

"Why doncha go now, boss?" Zack said, pushing off the wall where he'd been leaning. "I can finish up here. Take the boy back to HQ in the jeep. I'll catch a ride back with one of the transports."

Sephiroth stood and nodded to his second, who slipped into the vacated chair and typed an entry for Vallewida's whereabouts.

_Prisoner 708: Vallewida: In custody of General Sephiroth UFN._

Sephiroth took the bag containing the boy's things, and, with utmost gentleness, reached out to take Vallewida's elbow. There was a momentary flinch and tremor in that thin body that Sephiroth could easily feel where they touched. The prisoner's breath hitched slightly, held, then exhaled in a wavering whisper.

"Come with me, child," Sephiroth murmured, trying to be as unthreatening as possible.

It was almost laughable, considering who he was.

The General walked slowly, keeping in mind that the boy was injured, and recently if the smell of fresh blood was any indicator. Together, they wove through the dirty hallways and finally went through the large double doors that lead outside. As the doors slammed shut behind them, Vallewida paused, his steps faltering. For the first time since the brief glance earlier, pale silver eyes looked upward. A few tears gathered and slipped down dirty, pale cheeks.

"I'm outside," Vallewida sobbed, unable to help himself after so long in the warren of Enzai.

Sephiroth didn't try to force the boy into moving. He let the look of wonder play out of those delicate features and thought to himself that the Goddess must have been deep in her cups to let a creature such as this to grace mere mortals.

And how ungrateful had they been to let such beauty and grace be sullied in so horrible a way?

The prisoner took a huge breath and looked up at the towering and imposing form of the General. "I…I'm ready. I'm sorry for stalling, General sir."

"It is no problem," Sephiroth said with a gentle nod. "And you may call me Sephiroth."

Silver eyes widened in Vallewida's small, triangular face. "A-as you wish."

Sephiroth guided the small teen toward the jeep that sat alongside the rest of the military cavalcade that blocked the entrance to the prison. Some of the transport vehicles were partially full of prisoners, sorted by where they would be going from here. Several boys shouted to Vallewida as they passed by. Some wished him well, some told him goodbye, and one unfortunate boy in a transport full of those bound for another prison shouted something obscene that brought tears of shame to Vallewida's eyes.

The General growled. He glanced at the MP guarding the transport and let his look say everything. The guard nodded and entered the transport to deal with the disturbance.

Sephiroth didn't stay to watch the reprimand, knowing it would be done to his satisfaction. These men were unquestionably loyal to him, and Sephiroth had no doubts the guard would do what needed to be done to make sure the brash teen would see the error of his ways.

The warrior opened the jeep and helped Vallewida into it before shutting the door and walking to the driver's side. He popped open the door and threw the bag he carried in the small space in the back. Sephiroth slid inside and closed the door behind him.

***************************

Vallewida fully expected the General to start the jeep and start driving to…wherever they were going. However, he was terribly surprised when strong, slender hands took his arms and turned him so Sephiroth could access the cuffs on his wrists. The clank of keys heralded a metallic popping sound, and the cuffs fell away from his arms.

Startled, Vallewida looked up at the magnificent figure of the SOLDIER General. The man's beautiful face was not nearly so cold and icy as Vallewida had been told it was. Neither did it have the look of arrogance and fury that so commonly decorated the recruitment posters that had drawn the boy to the army in the first place.

Instead there was…compassion. Warmth.

Vallewida thought that it suited those strong features.

Sword-calloused hands slid along his in a whisper soft touch before disappearing.

The jeep started with a rumble that made Vallewida jump in alarm. He breathed quick chuffs of air to still his racing heart. It had been much too long since he'd been on the outside. Nothing was familiar anymore.

Vallewida wrapped his arms around himself and shivered, partially from cold and partially from fear. What was the world like, now? The last four years of his life had revolved around pain, hunger, and terrified uncertainty. Those were the constants in his world, what he could expect and know and live and breathe. What would he do now? What would _the General_ do with him?

The streets of underplate Midgar passed by as they drove away from the slum-prison. It hadn't changed much in the time he'd been behind dirty concrete walls. He'd walked these streets once as a citizen before entering into the army. The boy had thought the military would be his ticket out of poverty. Three meals a day. Clothing and shelter. Not a bad trade, all-in-all. And really, things hadn't been bad for awhile.

Then…

He'd always had a knack for getting into trouble, even if that trouble wasn't his to begin with.

But…that was neither here nor there.

His future was looming in front of him, all unknown and colossal to such a small soul.

Vallewida watched discretely as Sephiroth put the jeep through its gears as traffic slowed and accelerated. He seemed in no hurry, nonchalantly guiding the vehicle through Midgar to the huge, looming Shinra building at its center.

All too soon, the jeep was parked in the lot with dozens of others just like it. Sephiroth exited and grabbed the bag as he went. He came around to the passenger side and helped Vallewida out.

The teen's legs gave out for a second as he tried to stand. Sephiroth easily pulled him close and supported his small, boney frame against his muscular one.

"Are you alright?" the warrior asked with concern.

Vallewida blinked his eyes a few times, feeling dizzy and wondering why the world was slowly spinning in his vision. "I…I'm just…so very tired."

In a moment the teen was swept into Sephiroth's arms and cradled against his broad, well-built chest. Vallewida moaned as the movement caused his stomach to lurch and head to whirl.

"Shhh…" Sephiroth soothed, easily juggling his burden of boy and belongings as he made his way into the building. "Just rest. I'll take care of you."

_But why? Why me?_ Vallewida thought, but didn't voice. His eyes fluttered closed and he sighed. For now, he was content to cuddle into the large body he was pressed against.

It was…it was _safe_.

*************************

Vallewida didn't know when he passed out, but the next thing he knew he was laying on something soft and listening to the sound of water running. The silver haired teen sat up, wincing as wounds new and old acted up.

"I thought you might like to be clean." The voice was quiet but came clearly through the door across from the bed Vallewida found himself in.

The General appeared a moment later, blocking the entire doorway with his daunting frame.

"How…did you know I was awake?" Vallewida asked while he swung his legs over the side of the bed.

"I heard you sit up."

The teen cocked his head.

Sephiroth smiled and stepped into the room. "It's the mako. As Zack would say, I can hear a flea fart two towns over."

Vallewida smiled, the expression lighting up his features and making Sephiroth's heart skip. The warrior cleared his throat and came to stand next to the small teen. "Would you like a shower?" Sephiroth asked, holding out his hand to help Vallewida to his feet.

"Y-yes. I would, thank you."

"Would you…like me to help you?"

"U-um," Vallewida swallowed. "Maybe…let's see how strong I am."

Sephiroth nodded and took the boy's hand to help him stand. The small boy almost immediately collapsed.

"Sorry," Vallewida sighed. He leaned into the bigger body and let Sephiroth support him into the bathroom. "I'm just so…tired. Maybe…relieved? Can I be so relieved I'm tired?"

"You've been through more than I can imagine, especially in the last few hours."

"Everything's…different. Am I…am I free?"

Sephiroth sat the smaller man on the toilet and crouched down. "Technically, until the trials are over and the verdicts are set, you are still a prisoner. I plan on keeping you under my purview until such a time. I do not believe you should be subjected to prisons for one more moment, and I believe you could help me finalize some details of this case. After everything has been finalized, you will be free to choose your own path."

"Free," the boy's eyes were far away, but a brush of a gentle, large hand against his cheek brought him back to the present.

"I'll help you shower and clean your wounds, if you consent?"

Vallewida looked into the older man's face, seeing…kindness. And…lust. The boy had seen enough lust in all of its forms to recognize it in the General's eyes. But this time…this time was different. This man did not make him scared, did not make him flash back to the gang-rape that broke his mind.

It was different.

It was…good?

Maybe not _good_, but not…bad either.

Vallewida blushed and looked down. "Yes. Yes please. I'd like to be clean."

Sephiroth nodded and tenderly reached out to push the ratty grey shirt off of Vallewida's slender shoulders. It fell down to get caught around his elbows. He straightened his arms and let it fall off completely. Next, the General popped the button on the dirty pants and pushed them down over lean hips, helping Vallewida up enough so he could pull them down and off.

The teen didn't feel vulnerable or even embarrassed being naked in front of the General. The man didn't do anything to make him feel that way. He didn't leer or stare in the typical way that others did. He didn't look at him like he was a half-price whore, like he was only a moment away from throwing him to the floor and…

No. He wasn't like that, not the General.

There was appreciation there, surely. But…it was tempered with vast strength of will.

A gentleman.

Sephiroth was a gentleman.

The older man stood and deftly removed his own clothing in a very no-nonsense and militaristic way. Without having any time to appreciate the beautiful, sculpture like body of the General, Vallewida gasped as the bigger man lifted him and stepped them both into the…rather large shower.

The clear glass encased shower abutted a wall that was tiled in pleasing grey rock. The same material made up two benches on either side of the enclosure. Huge, plate-sized shower heads let down a rain of hot water that felt heavenly and agonizing at the same time. Everywhere he was wounded, the water seeped in and scalded, burned, singed. He whimpered for a moment before Sephiroth quickly redirected the spray.

"Let me treat your wounds first, and then we will get you clean."

Vallewida nodded, feeling a little woozy from the pain.

Sephiroth sat on one of the benches and pulled Vallewida down to sit sideways on his lap. The boy could feel the bigger man's groin under his thigh. It made him nervous, to be _this close_ to a naked man that was so much bigger and stronger than he was.

Nervous, but not scared.

Long fingered hands, more accustomed to killing than healing, took a soft cloth that was quickly slicked with soap and dabbed at the whip wounds on his back. Some of the slices were old, some new. All very painful. Several near his buttocks were infected, the skin angry and red and slowly oozing fluid. Each and every injury was delicately tended to and then…

Suddenly all the pain was gone.

"What…?" Vallewida gasped, the sudden lack of pain almost making him as dizzy as the pain itself had.

"I Healed you," Sephiroth murmured and brought his hand up so Vallewida could see the bangle attached to his wrist with the inserted materia still glowing. "As I clean the wounds out I will Heal them."

Vallewida nodded and relaxed again.

Sephiroth was extremely methodic. Every inch of skin was examined for injury, treated and healed. Even…the teen blushed. The bigger man even spread his legs and treated his abused anus. He was rather medical about it, really, and when the pain receded from that area Vallewida couldn't help but slacken into a boneless doll.

Once all the wounds had been seen to, Sephiroth proceeded to wash the small body. He turned the shower heads again so they were inundated with hot, amazing water. The teen was scrubbed until he practically squeaked before the warrior started on his hair. It was shampooed and conditioned, and the silver locks glimmered in the water as dirt slowly swirled down the drain.

Finally cleaned of the dirt of Enzai, Sephiroth lifted the small body out of the shower and lay him on the bathroom rug. It wasn't uncomfortable, really. The rug was soft, thick, and pliant beneath him, and anyway…Sephiroth was using a fleece-like towel to remove the water from his body and hair.

He felt like he couldn't move a muscle, even if he wanted to. Vallewida hadn't felt so wonderful, so safe and cared for…ever really. It was the most amazing feeling in the world. The teen never wanted it to end.

Sephiroth finished toweling him dry before promptly drying himself off. Vallewida watched with eyes half-lidded in pleasure as the beautiful silver god, who had swept in and granted his long unheard prayers, fished around in a cabinet. He turned and knelt by Vallewida's side. Several bottles were set on the floor and Sephiroth delicately touched the teens face.

"Which one would you like?" he gestured toward the bottles. Different scents of lotions, he realized, and read over the bottles.

"Apples," Vallewida said with a smile. "Apples would be nice."

Sephiroth smiled and picked up the bottle filled with thick, creamy lotion scented of Banoran dumb-apples. He put a small amount in his hands and rubbed them together before picking up one of Vallewida's hands and smoothed the cream over his skin.

He started with Vallewida's fingertips which still had some ink stains Sephiroth couldn't remove. Each finger was delicately and thoroughly massaged before the palm received the same attention. Up the wrist and forearm to the delicate bend of an elbow. Upper arm and shoulder, then on to the other arm.

Vallewida let his body go completely limp and unquestioning. Maybe he was foolish for being so trusting of someone he didn't know. He was all too familiar with how untrustworthy those in positions of authority could be. But…this was Sephiroth.

_Sephiroth_.

Even…even it the bigger man were to want…repayment for his kindness, Vallewida didn't think he'd mind. Something told him being with the General would be amazing, sweet and without fear.

The massage of his other arm ended and Sephiroth started with a foot, kneading deeply into the arch and heel before making his way up the leg to stop at the soft skin at the top of his thigh. The other leg was treated to the same luxury.

His throat was carefully caressed, the sensual, sweet smell of apples reaching the boy's nose. There was a moment, when that big, sturdy hand wrapped around his throat that Vallewida realized that this could be it. Sephiroth could snap his neck and everything would be over. His eyes fluttered open and looked up at the man sitting on his hip beside him. Sephiroth was looking down at him through the veil of his silver hair. Vallewida idly thought that the man's hair was a few shades lighter than his own. Sephiroth's hand gently squeezed, not even close to causing pain or even causing Vallewida to gasp. It did make his mouth open a little, just enough to let his tongue come out to and wet his lips. Sephiroth's breath caught in such a slight hitch that Vallewida was hard pressed to believe he even heard it.

It was only a moment later that Sephiroth's hand smoothed down his chest. More lotion was added, and Sephiroth worked it into the boy's chest and belly. Hips and the supple crease of thigh were slowly stroked before the General gently touched soft genitals. Vallewida closed his eyes and let a deep breath fill his lungs. The contact was so, so soft. Not arousing, but worshipping, like Sephiroth thought touching Vallewida was something he should be thankful for; reverent, awed, wonderful touches that made an emotion the boy couldn't name rush up and release in the form of a soft sob.

Immediately, Sephiroth's hand jerked away as if he'd been burned.

"I'm so sorry, angel," Sephiroth apologized. "I shouldn't have taken such liberties. I-"

"No," Vallewida exhaled, reaching up to grab Sephiroth's arm. "Don't stop. Please. It felt good. I wasn't scared."

Sephiroth looked at the hand clasping his arm before touching Vallewida's face. "You were crying. Crying means you were hurt."

"Crying can also mean you are happy."

Sephiroth tilted his head to the side, looking for all the world like a puzzled puppy trying to decide what to make of a new situation.

Vallewida smiled and giggled a little at the look. "I'm fine. Please don't stop."

"Zack taught me that crying means fear and pain," Sephiroth said, trying to puzzle through this new information.

"Not always," Vallewida said, sitting up, and, with a bravery he never thought he'd possess, crawled into Sephiroth's lap. He'd heard stories that Sephiroth wasn't human, that he couldn't show emotion, that he had no idea how to interact with mere humans.

Maybe a part of that was true.

"I promise, I wasn't in pain. I wasn't scared."

"You are…happy?"

Vallewida smiled, a few tears sliding down his cheeks seemed to prove his statement. "I'm very happy. I don't know that I've ever been this happy."

Sephiroth touched Vallewida's cheek and softly brushed the tears away. "I still do not wish for you to cry. Angels should not cry."

"You think me an angel?"

"Yes."

"If I am an angel, then I have fallen so very, very far."

"Then I shall lift you up, so you can fly again."

Vallewida's breath caught. Sephiroth was not only a gentleman, but a romantic. How…odd. And wonderful.

"Why me?" Vallewida asked with a voice that sounded small, yet still echoed through the bathroom.

"I saw your picture," Sephiroth said as if that explained everything.

"My picture?"

Sephiroth drew the smaller man into a tight hold. "One of the photos Lusca took. You were hurt. And your eyes…you were so scared. I wanted to make sure you were never scared again. I wanted to protect you. And when I saw you in that prison, shackles on your wrists and so frightened…I had to get you out of there. I had to protect you." Sephiroth smoothed still slightly damp hair away from Vallewida's face. "I don't think I've ever seen someone so beautiful as you."

"Oh," Vallewida trembled at those words. So amazing and sweet. His body reacted without thought and fell into the larger man. Maybe on instinct or preconditioning, Vallewida's body made itself as inviting as possible. Limp, unresisting he presented his slightly parted lips and bared throat to Sephiroth's gaze. He wanted it. He wanted to be owned, possessed, kept by this man.

Sephiroth swept down thoughtlessly and captured Vallewida's mouth with his own. Lips moved lightly against each other. The General's tongue slid inside a yielding mouth to taste what wonders an angel had to offer. It wasn't sweet, quite. It was salty, like too many tears cried mixed with the metallic tang of blood wrongly shed. Over that was a lingering savor of relief.

Sephiroth ate at the boy's mouth like he wanted to banish everything but the deep, rich taste of Vallewida himself. They panted through their noses, and the sounds of wet tongues moving against each other was loud in the tiled room.

When they finally broke apart, Vallewida whimpered and reached up for more. "Don't stop," he begged. For the first time in years, the flush of arousal within him had nothing to do with forced pleasure or giving in to what others wanted in order to save himself. This was safety and freedom and something Vallewida couldn't even name. He _wanted_ this, more than he'd ever wanted anything. He wanted to belong to this man, this shelter, even if it was only for tonight.

But oh, how he didn't want it to be just tonight.

Sephiroth stood, supporting Vallewida easily in his arms as he moved out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. The boy was laid out on soft sheets over an even softer mattress. This was no hard, flea-infested pallet in a prison cell. Then Sephiroth was over him and securely cradled in the already spread vee of his thighs.

The boy felt positively dwarfed by the huge, massively powerful frame pressing him into the mattress. There was no fear, only a sense of wonder as Sephiroth took his time to softly and wetly kiss down the side of his face to bury his lips into Vallewida's delicate throat. Kisses and velvety licks made the boy moan and gasp, especially as Sephiroth bit gently at his windpipe.

It was like having some kind of wild animal having him at its mercy. He knew that at any second, should Sephiroth remember he was wild, powerful and untamed, the creature would rip his throat out and tear him to pieces. But there was a power in this, in submitting to something so much _more_ than himself. It wasn't necessarily _bravery_, more like _foolishness_ if truth be told. Still, it was there: the power in submission.

Commanding hands stroked lean, skinny flanks that heaved in great gasps of aroused air. Vallewida arched and cried out when thumbs deeply massaged the trembling muscles on either side of his groin. His slender, pale cock jerked in response, and if Sephiroth had commanded it he would have came at that instant. However, something deeply ingrained into his mind made him pull back from the brink with a wailing cry of loss. Trembling and jerking as he struggled with himself, Vallewida didn't even realize he'd started to beg.

Sephiroth, however, noticed. _Gaia_ how he noticed those sweet entreaties spill from flush, pinked lips. His little angel, begging to be fucked, hurt, taken, so long as Sephiroth touched him. But he wouldn't. He wouldn't harm his beautiful gift. Instead, he would show Vallewida what lovemaking could feel like. This would be nothing like the silver boy had ever experienced before. Sephiroth was grateful beyond words that Genesis had taken the time, so long ago, to teach him about physical love, even if the redhead couldn't give him love in its intangible form. That place in Genesis' heart belonged to Angeal and always would. He'd been instructed well, on all sides of the equation. Genesis had even described in thorough and vaguely horrifying detail how to lay with a woman, and promptly laughed at Sephiroth's disgusted face.

With a small smile in remembrance of those days in Genesis' bed with Angeal's blessing, Sephiroth set to work on pleasing the boy beneath him.

His head swept downward with trailing strands of silver hair following in his wake. Vallewida gasped at the feeling of hundreds of skeins of softest silk flowing over his nude skin. His hands grasped the ends of a few trailing strands and rolled them between his fingers in nervous anticipation. Sephiroth didn't waste any movements, instantly taking Vallewida's penis in his mouth and suckling heavily.

The boy screamed. This had never happened to him. He'd always been on the other side. Someone had never done this to _him_.

"I-I need to…please let me-" the boy cried into the heated air.

Sephiroth pulled off long enough to whisper, "You never have to ask permission from me, Vallewida. Do it. Show me, as often as you can. I want to see how good you feel." With that, he went down again. The slender organ fit down his throat easily, and he swallowed convulsively. He felt it then, the rush of cum surging up and out. Sephiroth pulled off the cock lodged in his throat and kept it poised so the long, ropy strings of cum spattered his face and neck.

Vallewida watched without breathing as his bucking dick painted Sephiroth's face with glittering white. His eyes were open wide in disbelief, and he caught the satisfied, predatory look in the bigger man's eyes as they opened from savoring his debauched act. Sephiroth reached up and scraped a large dollop of juice from his cheek and licked it from his fingers in long, sultry swipes of his tongue.

"Would you like some?" Sephiroth asked as he slipped more of the sticky substance onto his fingers from where it stuck to his neck.

Vallewida had tasted his own cum before, when someone demanded it of him. He'd always felt vaguely nauseated by it, hating the taste and texture in his mouth. His face vaguely twisted in turmoil. He wanted to please Sephiroth, but he didn't want to do this. In his poor, confused mind, it didn't even occur to him that he could say no.

Sephiroth somehow sensed his partner's internal upheaval, and he smiled gently and licked his fingers clean himself. "You don't have to be afraid to tell me if you don't like something. I want to please you, and I can't please you if you don't tell me what you like and don't like."

"But…I…"

"Shhh…" Sephiroth soothed, using a corner of a sheet to clean the rest of his face and a few bits of his hair of the sticky mess. "I'm assuming you're thinking that you need to please _me_?"

Vallewida nodded almost shyly.

Sephiroth smiled and touched Vallewida's face. "What pleases me the most is seeing you happy."

The answer was so simple, Vallewida almost didn't believe him. Yet, the look on Sephiroth's face was anything but deceitful and nearly painful in its truthfulness. The boy nodded and relaxed again with a small smile.

Sephiroth lay over the boy again. They kissed unhurriedly in the slightly rumpled bed. In drawn out, sensual waves Vallewida began to undulate beneath the bigger body. It was as if his body couldn't contain itself. It wanted more. _He_ wanted more. He wanted this man to show him what he would, be it good or ill he didn't care. All of it.

Sephiroth used his hips to still those underneath him. Vallewida broke the kiss to stare beseechingly up at the bigger man. Unable to move his lower body, his chest and belly strained upward. Small, delicate legs lifted to Sephiroth's sides and clamped down. Vallewida's heels dug into his lower back and pressed hard.

"Please," the boy moaned in supplication. "Don't leave me like this. I need you."

The bigger man laughed quietly. "I already popped you off once, you little wanton. Already you want more."

"I've _never_ wanted it before," Vallewida replied in panting huffs. "I begged when they told me. I said what I had to so it would be over and I would come out the other end with as little injury as possible, but I've never _meant it_. But now," he moaned heavily as Sephiroth so very gently mouthed his jaw. "Now I want it. I _need_ it. I want you."

"I'll give you everything you want, little angel. Have patience. I promise it will only be better for the wait."

Vallewida nodded tremulously. He submitted himself again, letting his tense body relax underneath the bigger man's.

"That's it," Sephiroth murmured. "That's right. Just let me take care of you. I'm going to take such good care of you, my angel." His silver head dipped down, and Sephiroth's smiling lips parted and then closed over the tip of Vallewida's pointed, peaked nipple. Lips plucked at the bud before the tongue swept out and flicked the tip back and forth. Once the boy was moaning and shivering, Sephiroth took as much of the flat, male nipple in his mouth as he could and suckled greedily. Vallewida's hands unclenched from the fabric of the blankets beneath him to tangle in Sephiroth's hair. The bigger man didn't try to fight the tight hold, and when Vallewida pulled and pushed so Sephiroth was dragged over the other nipple he didn't resist. Sephiroth let Vallewida tell him without words what he wanted. _More_. _Less_. _Slower_. _Faster_. He obeyed and adapted to whatever was demanded of him. Glowing green eyes watched intently the rapt, pleasure drenched faces his young lover was making.

Apparently having his fill with their current form of foreplay, Vallewida dragged Sephiroth up to kiss him. It was fast and heated between them. Lips and tongues and teeth tangled with each other until they felt almost bruised. Vallewida's ink-stained hand reached down and grasped Sephiroth's large, straining erection.

"I want this," Vallewida panted between wet kisses. "I want you inside me."

"Are you sure? You can be inside me, if you prefer."

That comment stunned Vallewida speechless for a moment before he almost imperceptibly shuddered. "I don't think I'd like that. Not yet."

Sephiroth nodded, kissing Vallewida's neck as one hand reached over to pull open a drawer in the single bedside table. The boy watched with slitted eyes as Sephiroth pulled out a clear glass bottle with a stopper. His head tilted in puzzlement.

The older man pushed up a bit and settled on his knees between the aroused boy's shivering thighs. "This," he said, pulling the stopper out of the vial with the chiming sound of glass sliding along glass, "is something a very dear friend introduced me to." He tilted the bottle and let some of the clear, thick liquid pour onto his palm. "It's expensive as hell but absolutely worth it."

Sephiroth replaced the stopper and set the bottle on the night stand. He coated his fingers in the slick and reached between Vallewida's legs.

Vallewida had always known that sex between males should involve something to keep you slick besides spit or nothing at all. Or blood. He'd never had the luxury, however.

This…whatever it was, it was beyond slick. Sephiroth's finger slid inside so smoothly Vallewida was hard pressed to even realize it was _there_ until the bigger man pressed against his prostate in insistent, devastatingly accurate thrusts. That traitorous organ that, regardless of how much he hated those that raped him, would cause his body to respond. Now, however, that touch made him wild. Nothing hurt, nothing at all. Did that slick have some kind of healing power in it as well? Possibly. He felt stretched, but didn't feel the discomfort of abused muscles, even in passing. There was no friction to rub his delicate skin raw. Only slow, slippery touches opened him up farther and farther until Sephiroth slipped four fingers in and out. Vallewida whimpered and grabbed under his knees to pull his legs farther apart. Sephiroth's eyes darkened considerably and Vallewida smiled a little, dazed smile. Sephiroth pushed a little deeper, a little harder, and Vallewida felt the swell of the bigger man's knuckles against the ring of muscle.

"Some day," Sephiroth growled and pressed just a _little_ bit more, his thumb teasing the opening, "I'm going to shove my whole hand inside of your tight body and fuck you with it until you can't cum anymore."

Vallewida shivered and clenched down on that invading hand.

"But not today," the bigger man said, pulling his fingers out. "Today, I have other priorities."

It felt wrong, empty without Sephiroth's fingers inside of him. Vallewida strained upwards as much as his spread-eagled position allowed. The bigger man practically fell over the boy beneath him. He grasped Vallewida's hands from where they still held his knees and entwined their fingers. Sephiroth put their clasped hands to either side of Vallewida's small, delicate face. With a sure, gentle movement Sephiroth pressed his hips forward.

The boy gasped and tilted his head back as Sephiroth's member pushed through his anus and slid inside. It was amazing, as if Sephiroth had been meant for him all along.

"Yes," Vallewida whimpered in a high, strained voice.

Sephiroth groaned deep inside his chest. His big hands clenched on Vallewida's softly before releasing to shift one arm under the boy's torso and the other under his head. Suspended in Sephiroth's embrace Vallewida wrapped his arms around the bigger man's chest and sobbed as a staid yet utterly intoxicating pace was set between them. Sephiroth's shaft was so large that it was almost impossible for him to miss Vallewida's sweet spot. Even so, that amazing piece of flesh was deadly in its accuracy. Over and over the boy's prostate was massaged from one side to the other in deliberate, slow and calculated thrusts. Sephiroth didn't move any farther beyond that little spot, using the thick head to rub continuously back and forth where it counted most.

It wasn't long before Vallewida couldn't contain himself any more. He shifted his hips to open himself up a little more at the same time he clenched his passage as hard as he could. The pressure, the fullness, the closeness did him in, and with a long, loud cry of exultation he came untouched between their tightly pressed bodies.

Sephiroth grunted at the taut clasp of Vallewida's smooth body and slid his member fully inside to better savor the feeling. Hard, unrelenting force gripped his shaft before the tension broke into thick, rhythmic waves. His mouth opened in a silent scream as he let the milking tunnel bring him to climax. He'd been on edge since Vallewida had fearlessly climbed into his lap in the bathroom, and the terrible strain finally broke. He filled the boy underneath him until hot, slick cum slid out around his buried member and onto Vallewida's thighs.

It felt wonderful, the burst of heat inside of him. Vallewida rolled his head from side to side as Sephiroth came inside of him. If he hadn't already orgasmed so thoroughly, the feeling would have brought him again.

Sephiroth rolled them both in one swift, dizzying movement so that Vallewida lay on top of him. The boy collapsed against Sephiroth's chest, panting and moaning faintly. Neither made any move to clean themselves up or disconnect from the other. It felt too wonderful, right here and so intimately joined.

"I think I flew," Vallewida whispered into Sephiroth's neck.

The older man smiled and kissed the boy's vibrant, silver hair. "And you shall again and again, my angel. I promise."

END


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